Automatic pipe-coupling.



I F. C. DOANE & F. B. GEEDER.y

' AUTOMATIC HPB coUPLING.

APPLICATION IEILIEID APB'. 24, 1909.

Patented Nov. 23. 1909.

WITNESSES S ATTORNEY F. C. DOANE L F. E. GEEDER. AUTOMATIC PIPE GOUPLING. APPLICATION 4FILED APR.24,1909.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

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!! i A Quema Y 4 F. C. DOANE & P. E. CEBDER.

AUTOMATIC HPB COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED APILM. 1909.

940,678. Patented Nov. 23. 1909.

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.Be `it lrnownihat we, FRAM; C. Doane.

` f and .Flinn Culinair, citizens of the United '.,States, residing aty Spokane, in they `county v of `Spoliaxieand` State or Washington, have ,invented certain new and useful improvements in'v Automatic Pipelouplings, of

which the'following is a specification., This invention relates tocertain new and usetul improvements in automatic pipe couplings, and is vparticularly designed for coupling the air pipes arranged to carry compressed air 'from one car to another in a railway train for 'they 'purpose of operating brakes and the like.

Particular ob'ects of erator to uncouplethe pipe by the operation `of the same .necessity or' at anytime stepping in betweenV the cars to either' couple or uncouple pipes.;

tof-pgrovide -a coupling that will automat-v ically separate in case break in two and also automatically setv thel brakes in such a ca seupon the rest of the the train should ftrain.

. Other and urther'ispecialobjects will be disclosed in the specification hereinafter andv by the drawings accompanying 'the same, in

" which- Figure 1, is a bly of they parts'going to make up fthe'couplingl in the positionv they would `be when serving to couple together thepipes on two cars, Fig. 2, is la longitudinal sectional view of the same as pertains to thecasing and outer parts and aside elevation'of the-inner i' piar'ts thereof', Fig. 3, isv a'longitudinal. sec- 4same, and Fig.

, portion thereof, Fi

tional view of one' end oi vthe coupling as pertainsto the ,casing andoutery parts and the side elevation as pertains to the inner. v

t, is a like view of thef Fig. 5, isa like view of the other end thereof, Fig. 6, is a plan viewy device when in usecen't-ral part thereot,

end 'on thepipe of the car. also provided witlr an airy chamber lletya gasket' 15, a bell-shape casing lland has being loose upon the l the invention' areto; .'provide avcoupling that'will enable the 'ope' I,side elevation of an assem-4 casing 8,

8, isf a side elevation of one` Specification of Letters Patent. I patented appncanon inefie'prn'aa 1909. serial No. 491,965; i

mary vparts 10, 11 and 12'; #The part 10 is adapted to be one ofthe cars by means of 4the, threaded aperture 13 adapted toengage-a threaded "the part 10 lis bolted or riveted thereto steel clutches 1T.

"Part 11 is provided with a casing 18, air chambers 19, 20, 21'and 22,'a valve stem 23 carrying the' valves-24 and 25, 'the .former- 24 stem 23 and connected lwith the coil spring 2G which encircles the valve stem- 23, while the valve 25 isv rigid upon the stem vand rests against lthe coil spring 27, also encircling the lvalve'etem A'lhe valve stem 23 is provided witha shout.

der 2S and is heldin a horizontal position by Ithe circular guides 29 Vand 301, ,-1`lie'casiiig v.181s increased to greater diameter as you approach intermediately of the saine at both ends, leaving a channel 31 at the center raamt c. Doane ann reni) n. cnnnna, or srcxnive, wasiinverom Assierioss or, V.

connected withv the pipe -on thereof with a rounding. wall ,at one side i thereotl as at and a perpendicular wall at theotherside thereof; asat. shoulder 34: is also provided on the surface of tlie'cas- 'ing 18,*the purpose f of which will be hereiny after explained. v The part 12 is adapted to be connect-edito the pipe of a car by means of the threaded aperture 34:, adapted to engage a thread upon the end of the pipe. 1Part 12`lis provided withair chambers 35,

terminating as at 89 in abellshape. Fart 12 is also provided with a valve stem Al() carrying` valves 111 and 4:2, the `formerof which is loose upon the stein 4() attached to the coil springdl encirclingthe rllie valve stein is provided with a shoulder 45 and isheldjin a 'horizontal position by meansof thecirculaij guides 116 and 17. The casing 38 has riveted theretosteel springs Swhich inclose a ring 1 9 encircling the casing bearing 50.

36 and BTand with a and yvalve stein 40Awhile thelatter is'rigid upon -the valve stem 40 and rests against the tcoil spring 44.

-therein is a rod 69 which is encircled by a 105 coil spring 52 between the ring 49 and the We have shown the train pipe 53 bent to f the center 4ot" the. car 54 and connected at the center of a pipe l55 arranged transversely' of the car 54 with pipes 56 and 57 connected at the ends thereof and reaching out beyond 'the end of the car 54. To one ot' these pipes and 12, so that there can be no possible mistake in not having both the parts 10 and- 12 Where each coupling is to be made. We prefer to have the part 11l connected up with the part 10 when the cars are uncoupled for the reason that We have provided part 12 with a bell shaped opening 39 making it easier and more certain for the connecting arts to seek their right position when rought together by the approach of the cars to each other. The transverse. pipe and the extension pipes 56 and 57 should be connected by ball joints 5S and 59 to provide for proper play when trains are going around a curve and on other occasions. 7e have shown spring carrier plates 60 attached to the bottom of the cars 54 adapted to hold thepipes in proper position and coil springs 61 -connected tothe same and also to the angle ball joints 59.

In the. practical use lof the coupling, the parts 10 and 11 would be connected to the pipe extension 57 at theend of yone car and part 12 would be connected to the pipe extension 57 at the end of the opposite car. When the cars are brought together the end of part 11 will be guided into the bell shaped opening 39 of the casing38, the steel clutching parts 48 will spread until the clutching points 62 reach the perpendicular sides of the channel 31 in part 11 when the sain'e will spring inward and clutch the part 11 at that point and which is the position of the parts when a complete coupling has been eiiected. The endsl of the valve stems and will have come together prior to the L@points 62 reaching the clutching point and will -have been forced back,thereby openving the valves in the connectingl parts and connecting lup the air from the car previously connected with the train to the one being connected with the train. For `instance the valve 42 being seated at 63 is opened and the valve 25 being seated at 64 is opened, giving a free passage from the pipe on the car connected with the trainthrough the chambers 35, 36, l37, 22, 21, 20,

19 and 14 thereby reaching the pipe ot' the car being connected up. Callingattention to valves 24 and 41 in this connection, valve 24 is capable of being seated at 65 and valve 41 is capable of being seated at 66 and asy has heretofore been stated, .these twovalves are loose upon the stems. Ve have termed these graduating-valves and they are for the purpose of preventing a complete opening from one connecting part to another 1n- -tra'cted a certain amount.

Astantaneously when the cars are connected up and are calculated to provide a means for allowing the air to pass gradually until the pressure of air in the pipes of the connecting car is equal to the pressure in the pipes of the train. The practical working of these valves would be that the torce ot' the 'air coming into chamber 36 and rushing toward chamber 37 would unseat the valve 41 from its position at 66, the air then passing through chambers B7-and 22 and. into 21 would seat the valve 24 at 65 thereby closing the passage excepting such opening as would be left between the valve 24 and the stem 23 by reason of the valve -24 being loose upon the stem 23, thus causing a slow seepage of the air' between the valve 24 and lthe stem 23 until the force ot' the air in the pipe of the c nnecting car is equal to the force in the pipes of the train when the coil spring 26 will unseat-the valve 24 from its position 65 allowing a free passage then of the air through all of the chambers and connecting parts. In order to avoid a possibility of either one of the valves 42 or 25 not opening when the parts are connected, we have provided shoulders 45 and 28 upon the valve stems 40 and 23 respectively adapted to engagethe circular guides 47 and 29 after the springs 44 and 27 ,upon the valve stems 40 and 23 respectively have con- This provision is made iii order that the contact of the valve stems 40 and 23 will force the other spring tocontract sulhciently to unseat the opposite valve. The shoulder34 upon the casing 18 is adapted to come in contact with the inner surface of the bell shape-d opening in the connecting up of the coupling at a point where there is a proper pressure upon the gasket 67 and to relieve it from any extraordinary pressure. vvIn case of an p open in the remainder of the coupling thereby permitting the brakesto be set upon the cars 'remaining connected with the engine and lassisting in the stoppingof the train. We have shown a means `of uncoupling the apparatus by `attaching a cable, 68 to the orice 51 of the rod 69 connected with the ring 49 the cable also being connected to a lever 70 secured to the rod 71 and adapted to be rotated by a hand lever 72 at one side of the car 54. The turning of this lever will draw the ring 49 inward, throw the steel clutches -48 outward 'and release the part 11 from the part 12,-`and contract the coil spring 5.2. After the parts are, disconnected, the coil spring 52 will then have the force to return the ring 49 to its position shown in Figs. 1 and 50 f seated at one endy of the chamber and par- .Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l." Ina pipe coupling,.cornposed ofivtihjree sections, one each adapted to be secured to the yendsof` `thepipes to be coupled together and a central section adapted to unite the Vother two, the said central sectionibeing circular'1n'-forni and gradually increased 1ndiameter from both ends as it approaches' the center, With, however, a channel at the center portion of approximately the saine diameter-as. the outer ends of the section,

`with agli-founded Wall at one side and.

perpendic jai" wall at the othertlie ends of the saidgc'eiitral section adapted to enter .bell-'shaped -olieniirgs in the ends of the other two sections and be! retained therein by spring clutches secured to the end sections,

with shoulders. adapted to engage-the round! ed and perpendicular Walls of the channel at the center of the central section, substantially as described.

2. In a pipe coupling', composed of three sections, one sectionjprovide'd with a chamber anda bell-shaped opening, one provided with a chamber at each end-and two centrally located chambers, a Valve stein extending longitudinally through the chambers carrying one'vvalve loose upon the' saine and one rigidly secured thereto, the valve "loose upon-the stem located in .one of' the centrally disposed chambersfsecured 'toi a coil.l spring encircling the valve stem. and

capable of being'"`sea'ted at one end 'of the chamber-and partially blocking the entrance thereto, the valve-rigidly secured to the stem located in the other centrally disposed chamber against lthe end of a: coil sprino encircling the valve stem and capable ot being seated at .one end of ,the chamber andv blocking the entrancetheret, and one providedxwith a chamber at one end and a 'bell-shaped openingat tlg other, two chambers centrally loca-ted therein, a valve stem extending longitudinally through the cham- 1 p bers carrying on'evalve loose thereon Ocegpying one of the centrally disposed chambers secured to the end of a coil spring encircling At-he stem and capable of being ti'ally blocking the entrance thereto, the valve rigidly secured tothe stemlocated 1n the other centrally against the end of a coil 'sprin I r'cling the v alve stem and capable of be seated at one end g of the chamber and blockingtlie entrance thereto, substantially as described.

3. In a pipe coupling, composed of three 4loose upoi'ivthe stein located'in one of the --ceiitrally disposed chambers, secured to a coil spring encircling the valve stem and capable Aof being seated at lone end of the chamber and partially blocking the entrance thereto, the Valve rigidly securedto the stem located. in the other centrally disposed chamber againsttlie en d of a coil spring encircling the valve stein and capable of being seated at one end of the chamber and blocking the entrance thereto, and one provided With a chamber at one end anda bell-shaped fopeniiig at the other, two chambers centrally located therein, a valve stem extend- 'ing longitudinally through the chambers carrying' one.. valve loose thereon occupying one of the centrally disposed chambers secured'to the end ot a.co1l spring encircling lthe stem and capable of being seated at one end of the chamber and partially blocking the entrance thereto, the "valve rigidly secured tothe steril located in the other cen Vtrally. disposed chamber against the end Vof a coil spring encircling the valve stein and capable oi' 'being seated at. one end of the chamber and blocking the entrance thereto. each o'f the i'alye stems held to ahorizontal positionby guides encircling' the same between the chambers, and each valve stem providedwith a shoulder near one end thereof capable of being seated against oneof the circular guides, substantially as described.

In; testimony whereoi we affix our signatures, in presence of tivo Witnesses.`

` 'A FRANK C. DOAE.

` FRED E. CEEDER.

Witnesses:

W. R. SAMPsoN MARY SVHoLDnnEn. l 

